IPhone buzz reaches to Microsoft's back yard

by Robert Mullins

July 2, 2007 —

As 6:00 p.m. approached Friday, the mob in front of the Apple Inc.'s flagship San Francisco store counted down the seconds as if it was New Year's Eve.

Eric Eisher took in the whole scene with amusement.

"I'm here for the experience," said Eisher, of Berkeley. "I think of marketing as a form of art."

In what could be the most anticipated product launch ever, or the most diabolical marketing campaign, the iPhone arrived in San Francisco, just 44 miles from Apple Inc.'s Cupertino headquarters in Silicon Valley, where so many technological advances have been born.

Further north, in Seattle, interest in the iPhone in arch rival Microsoft

IDG News Service